noun

adjudication

uh-joo-dih-KAY-shuhn/əˌdʒuːdɪˈkeɪʃn/

The formal process of considering a matter and reaching an official decision.

The dispute goes to adjudication after negotiations fail to resolve it.

An orderly court hearing with judge examining evidence and both parties presenting their sides, formal judgment process, no writing.

Etymology

adLatinto

+judicLatinto judge

+ationLatinaction or process

The combined verb meant to grant or award something as a judge. Its action noun came to name judicial settlement—the formal process of deciding a dispute.

In context

Mike Loader6:21

there was no independent adjudication the operator the department played all the roles of judge jury and executioner

Panel VI – The Concerns and Lives of Apparatchiks

More examples

Both sides submitted documents for the panel's adjudication.
The contest's adjudication required careful comparison of every entry.
The agency publishes summaries of its recent adjudications.

Forms

adjudication · adjudications

adjudicate verb — To consider a dispute and decide officially.

Similar words

arbitration: Usually relies on a chosen neutral decision-maker outside court.
judgment: Often names the resulting decision rather than the whole process.